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Umm.. looking at my car wont work for me. I buy and resell on ebay, flea markets and auctions. The Jeep is always cluttered looking. My camper.... not so much, every thing is stacked and fairly neat but cluttered looking due to space limitations.
So fitting everyone into the same mold may cost you a really good renter. I know several neat people that re often having money issues.
Looking at their car will definitely help you. There are exceptions to EVERY rule, but it still helps a lot. Some people with great income will fail to pay their rent. Some people with great credit will fail to pay their rent or be slobs. But there are very strong trends with all of these factors. None of them should be viewed alone, but if their credit is bad or mediocre (and has lots of little things in collections), their car is a mess, and their income is borderline or not quite meeting your requirements, together those things tell you that this person isn't the best tenant for you. If their car is a little cluttered, but income is great and credit is great, you've probably got a good tenant.
It's about getting as many pieces of the puzzle as possible to get the best idea of the whole picture.
Umm.. looking at my car wont work for me. I buy and resell on ebay, flea markets and auctions. The Jeep is always cluttered looking. My camper.... not so much, every thing is stacked and fairly neat but cluttered looking due to space limitations.
So fitting everyone into the same mold may cost you a really good renter. I know several neat people that re often having money issues.
There’s a difference between stuff and trash. A pile of old fast food paper debris and miscellaneous clothes (just thrown around, not folded or neat) is different than hauling around some garage sale finds.
Home inspection. Lots of landlords are starting to do them.
Do you mean the potential landlord would inspect your CURRENT home? Or just that you do inspections periodically AFTER they move in? Both are treading on shaky legal ground, depending on where you live... obviously visiting their current home would be up to the applicant (nobody has to give permission for that!), but even inspections on current occupants have limits. Here in California, the rule is something like "no more than once annually, except in emergencies or required maintenance/repairs with 24-hour notice." So you can't just show up every month and demand to be let inside their place.
(I'm only referring to official/whole rental units; not situations like renting a bedroom in someone's home)
I just checked the laws in California, and "general inspections" are actually NOT LEGAL here... so for the landlords who are posting, I sure hope you've checked your state laws!
"General Inspections Prohibited
The above reasons, methods and procedures (emergencies, maintenance with at least 24-hour notice, etc) are the only ones an owner or manager may use to legally enter the resident’s dwelling unit. Many owners and managers believe that they can enter the unit for inspection purposes only. Entry for general inspection purposes is not, however, permitted under current California law. In fact in the early 1990s, a bill was introduced in the California legislature to allow owners and managers to enter the inside of the unit for general inspection purposes, but the bill died in committee."
Do you mean the potential landlord would inspect your CURRENT home? ..........
Yes, inspection of the home they are moving out of. It's part of the application process. Naturally, the applicant must agree to it and must be informed at the time they are applying, not sprung as a surprise a few days later.
Yes, it is legal everywhere.
It is how the landlord keeps out hoarders, slobs, smokers who lie about it, pet owners who lie about it , groups of people who misrepesent their numbers, destructive people, and all sorts of other problems.
Not making exceptions to the income and credit requirements would have been the best way to avoid these tenants (I know it doesn't seem like it should, but income and especially credit can say A LOT more about someone than just their finances).
This is sooooo true. When the crash happened in 2008, we all of a sudden had a 20% vacancy rate, and the owner panicked and told me to lower my standards.
I did, and we ended up having to evict people.
People who need co-signers (who aren't young students) or who have bad credit (especially stupid bills that go to collections like their cable or phone bill) - will be problem tenants.
If you don't want to deal with problems beyond the normal reasonable ones - don't rent to them.
Yes, inspection of the home they are moving out of. It's part of the application process. Naturally, the applicant must agree to it and must be informed at the time they are applying, not sprung as a surprise a few days later.
Yes, it is legal everywhere.
It is how the landlord keeps out hoarders, slobs, smokers who lie about it, pet owners who lie about it , groups of people who misrepesent their numbers, destructive people, and all sorts of other problems.
Yeah, that would be a huge NOPE from me. I've never ever been asked to allow that, and I have rented over 20 places in the last 25 years. Is that typical where you live?? Seems reaaallly invasive, and would be a red flag to me as the renter... because even though I'm generally a good tenant, I can't handle being hounded/watched or made to feel uncomfortable in my own home. If I wanted that, I'd go live with my mother. LOL
Threads like this make me appreciate my current landlord, who doesn't care about most of this stuff. Smoking, pets, cleanliness? Whatever. All he said before I moved in was "Just pay the rent on time, and don't have massive parties every weekend." Cool, I can manage that! I'm moving again in a couple of weeks, but the home (it's an in-law) is owned by a family acquaintance - and they're pretty chill too, at least as far as I can tell. Regardless, I think this is a good reminder that compatibility needs to go BOTH directions. I can't live under a nagging or super restrictive landlord, just as some landlords wouldn't want me as a tenant.
People who need co-signers (who aren't young students) or who have bad credit (especially stupid bills that go to collections like their cable or phone bill) - will be problem tenants.
If you don't want to deal with problems beyond the normal reasonable ones - don't rent to them.
Or they just hit a rough patch, but are now beyond that? My credit is far from perfect, since I was struggling during the few years between a period of MAJOR rent increases (average 30-40% increases countywide) and when my salary finally caught up - but I'm good now, and manage to make the $2100 rent every month. So you'd be wrong about me!
That's why I said I'm lucky with my current landlord, who trusted his instinct over some arbitrary numbers. And yes, they ARE somewhat arbitrary, given how flawed the credit reporting system is. I have very little debt (basically just my car loan), never declared bankruptcy or had any liens/judgments, no foreclosures or evictions, etc; but I can't break a 600 score mostly because my 7-year payment history is at 93%, and I've never had a mortgage?? I did the "credit simulator" on Credit Karma, and they literally said borrowing $100K+ for a mortgage was the only way to reach a "good" rating. How does that make ANY sense??
Also, what are people with credit issues supposed to do - live in their cars? Most complexes will accept people with lower scores if they pay a higher deposit, and that seems mutually fair to me. I guess if you're a homeowner-type landlord (meaning you only have one or two rentals), you can be super picky... but if you're managing hundreds of units, it makes more sense to do that than to have 20%+ vacancies. JMO.
I do month to month rental terms.
I look at their car when we meet.
I call their current LL
I drive by and look at the street view.
I do inspections.
And I am very friendly to my neighbors. They all have my number.
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